Fujitsu, Sagem team on 3G technology

MarikoAndo

TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Fujitsu said Wednesday that it will join with French telecom firm Sagem SA to develop technologies that would form the basis of third-generation mobile phones offering high-speed Internet accessibility.

Fujitsu will engage in application platform development in Japan, while Sagem will focus on the development platform in France. The two companies plan to introduce new technologies for sophisticated handsets, to be able to operate worldwide, by the latter half of 2003.

The agreement would help position Fujitsu
FJTSY, +1.93%
(6702) and Sagem (007327), neither of which is among the world's top cell-phone makers, to speed up development time by sharing research resources, including the exchange of R&D talent.

Both companies also plan to jointly conduct interoperability testing for international roaming, which is expected to be necessary for 3G handsets in Europe and Japan.

Once networks have been updated and the necessary technology widely deployed, the much-discussed 3G service is expected to deliver sufficient transmission rates for videoconferencing and high-speed Internet access.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo
NTDMY
last fall rolled out the world's first commercial 3G service. More such services are expected to eventually take a major role in the global market for wireless services, but when they will actually become available isn't clear.

Fujitsu's shares dropped 27 yen, or 3.3 percent, to end at 789 yen on Wednesday in Tokyo.

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